MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – As legendary comedian Groucho Marx once said, “I’ve had a wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.”

It was far from a wonderful evening for Mountaineer fans who gathered in Morgantown last night to see the first Top Five match-up in Coliseum history.

Those who braved the remnants of Snowpocalypse 2010 saw a Big Monday match-up that ended in a reversal of roles from Villanova’s previous visit.

Last year in Morgantown, West Virginia managed to dull powerful Villanova’s Wildcat roar to a raspy meow when they handed them a 93-72 defeat at the Coliseum.

But it turns out that Wildcats don’t take defeat sitting down.

They were on the hunt for redemption. Not only that, but the stakes were up—way up, in fact—since Villanova was riding at the top of the conference and West Virginia was a close third. They came in as the No. 4 and 5 teams in the country, respectively.

But in the battle of the BIG EAST’s best, the Wildcats made sure their roar was one heard around the NCAA as they upset WVU 82-75, handing them their first loss in over three weeks and only their fourth of the season.

The diagnosis? Simply put, the Mountaineers were outshot and rebounded to the point of exhaustion.

Scottie Reynolds found basket after basket, racking up 21 points on the night. Corey Fisher added 17. Their unstoppable four-guard attack shot 56.9 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from three-point range. Their rebounds in comparison to West Virginia came in at 38-30.

“They’re playing four guards and they out-rebound us 38-30,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “We have to make it up with other things.”

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that they key to weakening WVU’s offensive is to take out Da’Sean Butler. Villanova quickly adopted that strategy, limiting the shooting sensation to only 13 points.

Not only did they slow down Butler, but they also slowed down a West Virginia defense that was giving up only 61.5 points per game prior to last night. The Wildcats had a 44-33 lead at halftime and shot an impressive 63.3 percent in the first half.

As you can imagine, it was not a pleasant night in Huggstown.

“If we give up 44 points in the first half, we’re not going to win. It’s just that simple,” said Huggins.

The Mountaineers will hopefully find the remedy for victory quickly, as they face a wild animal of another kind on Friday night—the Pittsburgh Panthers—for the second time in nine days.

“We’ve got to keep going,” said Huggins.

“There are seven more league games to go.

And knowing the Panthers, they won’t let their roar be dulled for the second time in a week-and-a-half without a fight.

Hang on, Mountaineer fans. This season, BIG EAST basketball has proven that it’s a jungle out there--and only those with killer instincts will be left standing at the end of it.

Here’s to believing West Virginia has what it takes to become the King of the Jungle.

 

 

 

 

 

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